Hokusai'sGreat Wave

Supported by

Asahi Shimbun

See a masterpiece of Japanese art, one of the
most iconic images in
the world.

Under the Wave, off Kanagawa (Kanagawa oki nami-ura),
also known as ‘The Great Wave’, is surely the most famous of all
Japanese prints. It was designed by artist Katsushika Hokusai in
around 1831 and issued as a popular colour woodblock print.

Although ‘The Great Wave’ is often seen as typically Japanese,
in fact it mixes influences from both east and west. Hokusai’s
imagination had been captured in his youth by his discovery of
European-style perspective. Now, aged about seventy, he adapted
European perspective in a very inventive way, playing games in the
image between the relative sizes of the large storm wave in the
foreground and tiny Mount Fuji in the distance.

Japanese prints such as 'The Great Wave' influenced Western
artists such as Whistler, van Gogh and Monet. During the 20th
century and beyond, the image has spread even more widely into
popular culture and has been frequently replicated and adapted. It
is even painted as a mural on a house in Camberwell, South
London.

This is a unique opportunity to delve into the story behind this
iconic work, learn how Hokusai made ‘The Great Wave’, and discover
how the print has become a truly global inspiration.